It began with the optimisation of the performance of the Council for European Affairs at the Council of Ministers, which is chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Work was done to better prepare Bulgaria’s positions in the Council of the European Union meeting formats, focusing on issues of particular importance to the country, it emerged from his report. “For me, this is a key element of consistent quality and defence of Bulgaria’s positions within EU institutions,” Minister Vigenin told members of the committee.

 

He said that in the past month, active preparations already had begun for the future Bulgarian rotating presidency of the EU (in 2018), as well as current estimates of needs for specific training for the ministries involved in the Presidency. Minister Vigenin said that organising the Presidency calls for very good administrative capacity, secured financial resources and very precise co-ordination. The whole process is being carried out by a working group headed by him and Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Zinaida Zlatanova.

 

Minister Vigenin has initiated a working group to conduct a thorough analysis of the possibilities for better positioning of Bulgaria at regional level. “This is particularly important in view of our application regarding the transformation of the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Cooperation in South East Europe headquartered in Sofia into a Permanent Secretariat with advanced functions and powers, to make it into a true body for co-operation in the region,” the Foreign Minister said. He said that it was expected that in the near future, the working group would propose an action plan, not only to ensure the nomination, but also a comprehensive package of initiatives to strengthen the Bulgarian presence in these regions. The Minister said that also updated was the composition of the working group in Macedonia, led by Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Macedonia, Ivan Petkov. A working group has been created to conduct a thorough review of Bulgaria’s relations with Macedonia.

 

One of the priorities of the Foreign Ministry is to enhance the economic performance of Bulgaria’s missions abroad. Minister Vigenin said that it was very important to improve inter-departmental co-ordination on issues that are important to the economic interests of the country. He gave as an example the weak co-ordination under the previous government with the Economy Ministry, which would change. “Dialogue with the institutions is very important. We will improve co-ordination with the Economy Ministry on topics that have a strong foreign emphasis, for example energy,” Kristian Vigenin said. The Minister said that under the new operational rules, which were being worked on at the moment, it was envisaged to have a Director who would be responsible for dealing with potential foreign investors, which thus would increase the commitment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in regard to foreign trade relations. We expect that in September, the ministry will be working with a new structure, he said.

 

Minister Vigenin noted that public consultations had been completed on the Draft Regulation on the career development of diplomatic staff, of the conditions and procedures for evaluation and rotation of members of the diplomatic service. He said that this document would bring order and stability, and the project will create the conditions for greater security and motivation for staff of the Foreign Ministry.

 

“I shall try to keep to a minimum political appointments, if any, to a level well below the statutory 20 per cent. An inquiry has show that currently of the total number of all heads of missions abroad, the number who are not part of the foreign service adds up to 25. This is a little more than 25 per cent of all heads of mission, which is a violation of the law and is a situation that I inherited,” Minister Vigenin said. He said that the percentage is even higher if the total number of serving consuls-general was taken into account, 64.2 per cent, which shows how the previous government operated. A financial analysis is in progress, with the data so far indicating that in the first six months of 2013 alone, the ministry already had a deficit of about six million leva. “The previous administration cut the budget of the ministry by about a third, which at the moment makes it difficult to do our work and we are analysing how we can deal with the situation,” Minister Vigenin emphasised.

 

The Minister briefed the members of the committee on the idea to prepare amendments to the Diplomatic Service Act to eliminate existing gaps in the law or texts that contradict other regulations. He said that also in the final stage of preparation was the Code of Ethics provided for in the Diplomatic Service Act. It has the goal of regulating the duties of employees in the diplomatic service in terms of prevention of conflict of interest, corruption, discrimination and other matters.